Friday, 3 May 2013

Welcome Home To Yacht Haven - Animal Farm

Fish, Lizards, Snakes & Rats

After four weeks away it was good for both Ley and I to be back on board. It had been a stressful month. We arrived home to find rat poop on the deck, so the marina provided rat traps and bait, and sure enough we caught the culprits by the nearest rubbish bins (one reason many marinas don't provide bins on the docks).

As usual the propeller, shaft and thru-hulls needed cleaning. The shellfish growth here is incredibly fast - it took 2 hours to scrape clean the propeller and shaft, which had last been cleaned only 12 weeks before.

Crystal Blues has a single large (1.5") thru-hull that delivers sea water to several services, including the water cooled refrigeration and the air conditioning system. The constant flow of warm, nutrient filled water means we also need to clean the intake pipe and hoses quite regularly. It doesn't seem to be a problem in cooler climates and clear water, but here in the warm silty water at Yacht Haven the little devils grow thick and fast.

Whilst cleaning I had constant company from a growing school of beautiful tropical fish, all chomping on the growth I was removing.

What I didn't see (until later) is that there are larger creatures in the water here, like our friend at left. This water monitor was resting on our fenders yesterday, oblivious to us watching through the port-light from our navigation station.

Last night the critter was even bigger - we stopped and watched a 3 meter reticulated python cross the road at the marina entrance and disappear into the trees above our pathway home.

What next ? If only we could get the lizard to eat the shell fish and the snake to eat the rats for us .... but lets not go there, we've had three snakes on board Crystal Blues over the years, and three is enough.

From the top of the mast

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Neil & Ley Langford

Greetings from the crew of Crystal Blues. On this site you can share in our travels, interests and experiences.
The site contains a lot of information that we hope will be of value to other cruisers. Many site links, plus a wide range of information, document downloads, and video links, all in the right hand column. Check them out, and feel free to advise us of corrections and updates. We also welcome any additional documents that can be shared through this site.
We've been aboard now for over 13 years, and we're sailing the world, sharing our lives with people from many cultures. Welcome to our voyage ...